Dr. Rahul Sharma retired as a Chief Scientist from the National Institute of Oceanography in Goa, India. He received his PhD in Marine Science from Goa University in 1997. His research interests include development of underwater photography for deep-sea exploration, environmental impact assessment for deep-sea mining, and application of exploration data for deep-sea mining and environmental conservation. He has undertaken several assignments for international research organizations, academic institutions and the International Seabed Authority. He is the editor of the books ‘Deep-sea mning (2017)’ and ‘Environmental issues of deep-sea mining (2019) published by Springer.